Father-Son Bonding
by BeatrixG the MaskedDog
Summary: The First of a Series! A rewrite of the Season 3 episode Let's Get Shadowy! Takes place in an AU where K.O. develops into a neutral alignment.
1. Let's Get Shadowy

Right. Today was Saturday.

"You've got everything with you, K.O.?"

"Yes, Mommy!" K.O. replied back in a chipper voice, his stuff in hand.

As the young hero got in the tank, his fears began to kick in.

He wondered how being with his evil dad was going to be like-would he try to hurt him? Screw with his mind again?

K.O. hoped that perhaps Professor Venomous would actually realize how much they were actually missing out on.

"You okay back there, peanut?" Carol asked her son as she began to park the tank in front of Boxmore's doors.

"I'm fine, Mom," K.O. unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed his things. "Still trying to wrap my head around dad being a supervillain and all..."

"If you wanna go back, we still can-" Her dialogue was cut off by the rapping of Boxman's scaly chicken-foot hand against her window.

Boxman awkwardly thumbed up outside, waiting for K.O..

"If Lase-erm-Venomous I mean, tries to do anything to hurt you, call me immediately, 'kay kiddo?"

K.O. nodded as he exited the door.

"Love you, honey!"

"Love you too, Mommy,"

He caught Boxman trying to say some words to his mother, none of which she responded to.

The two watched the tank leave the area.

"Hey there, K.O.!" Boxman greeted to the best of his politeness.

"Hi, Boxman!" K.O. responded with the same vigor, walking alongside Boxman who was heading into the factory.

Noticing the load of his bag, "You're staying here overnight?"

"I...want to stay the whole weekend." K.O. replied. "I bet Dad wants that too."

Boxman laughed awkwardly. "Well, PV always had a way with children! I-I mean, with how surprisingly amiable he got with my um,"

Boxman immediately noted K.O.'s discomfort.

Sighing, "Look, I know villainy isn't really your thing, but if you want to get something good out of this,"

K.O. looked at Boxman directly in the eyes.

"I suggest you give your Daddy a chance." Apparently right there, Boxman knocked on Venomous's door.

Venomous's door slid open as Boxman left K.O. there. A dark gas escaped the room, and K.O. was too slow to cover his nose.

Thank goodness it was just decorative scented gas—Venomous immediately assured his son so as he took K.O. in.

It smelled like K.O.'s favorite vintage berry lollipops.

* * *

"We have so much catching up to do!" The Professor announced gleefully.

"What do you wanna do, K.O.? Let's,"

_Threaten the congresswoman?_ No!

_Pollute the water supply? _Doesn't everyone need to drink clean water?

"—attack the plaza!"

"I work there," K.O. responded briefly and bluntly. "All those things you said are evil!"

"Oh!" Venomous chuckled to himself with a brief expression of self-doubt that graced his face which quickly turned into polite glee.

He tried to ruffle K.O.'s hair, "surely you wanna know what your old man does at work, right?"

The boy recoiled with a brief growl, his father responding appropriately by keeping away his hand.

"Come on, K.O.! Is there someone out there that you, maybe, wish to destroy?"

"I don't destroy...I can easily defeat my enemies! You know, by knocking them out!"

Venomous bent down to K.O.'s level, "don't lie to me, kid,"

"I'm not lying!"

It was around this time that Fink entered into the room unnoticed.

"Perhaps there was someone you haven't defeated yet?"

When she saw what was happening, she sighed to herself quietly and went to look for her videos game console.

"I don't think so."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm-" K.O. cut himself off. "No wait, there was one! Shadowy Figure!"

Fink almost dropped her console, the name the only stark words in her head.

"Shadowy Figure?" Venomous was curious.

"He's this guy who wears his hood that covers his face; he's the one who wants me to unleash T.K.O.!"

Fink began to pay attention to their conversation.

"T.K.O.?"

"Um, he's like my inner darkness...in the form of an alter ego."

"That's interesting," The bioengineer was intrigued at the idea. He wondered where K.O. got it from.

"Perhaps," Venomous suggested, "We should hunt down this Shadowy Figure and des-erm-defeat him once and for all!"

"...yeah!" K.O. seemed to like the idea. Perhaps getting rid of him would give him more time to think about his villain dad. He could very well make his father a hero again.

"That's a bad idea!" Fink reacted, surprising the other two.

"Hi Fink," K.O. greeted. She responded back with a raspberry.

"Why exactly is that a bad idea, Fink?" Asked the professor.

"Just trust me, boss," She turned back to her console. "I uh...tried looking for the guy myself; it ain't worth it going after a dead end."

"Nonsense," Venomous retorted back at her in determination. "K.O., what else do you know about him?"

"Well, he likes glorbs really much."

"Then he must be a glorb dealer," Venomous then pulled out his phone.

"Let's find this Shadowy Fig-" He was cut off as his phone exploded in his hands.

Coughing out some smoke, "Cob dangit, I just bought that!"

"Maybe we can ask other glorb dealers if they know him?" K.O. suggested.

"Other glorb dealers..." Venomous wiped his face with a handkerchief. "I think I know a guy."

"Let's go to them then!" K.O. exclaimed with determined energy, immediately leaving the room by himself.

Professor Venomous couldn't help but smile at the boy's chipper nature. A dash of melancholy graced his countenance when the thought of his old flame sparked briefly within his mind.

"Come on, Fink. I know you want to come too."

* * *

"You come here to interrupt my spa day? What's so important that you would dare to do such a thing?!"

Billiam was handed a tablet by one of his lesser servants.

Gasping, "Professor Venomous?! Quickly, make sure everything looks like it's in tip-top shape!"

All the servants rushed about to arrange everything. With a snap, Billiam was redressed into his so-called leisure robe, laid on a soft beach chair, polished, and then fanned with palm leaves by his servants.

_"Really?"_

_"Yes. You know, if it weren't for him,"_

Billiam caught the dreaded Professor, his henchman, and a **random child**?

_"I wouldn't have gotten this far so quickly."_

"Professor Venomous, darling!" Billiam greeted as he locked eyes with the three, trying his hardest not to look nervous.

"Hey, Billiam," Venomous responded casually.

"I'm so pleased to have you and your company with me! What brings you here, my dear Professor? Business...or pleasure?"

Fink rolled her eyes at the villain.

"Actually, we're here to ask about a glorb dealer," Venomous replied.

"Why," Billiam rose from his reclining position into a sitting one, an offended flick of the wrist resting his hand upon his bare aurum bosom, "have you gone tired of my services and demands, Professor?"

Before he could reply, K.O. cut him off, "No, I'm the one looking for a glorb dealer—his name is Shadowy Figure."

"How curious!" Billiam exclaimed, surprised at the circumstances before him.

"You must tell me, boy," He rose and walked towards K.O., "how did a young hero like you come to the conclusion of approaching such gruesome villains such as ourselves? Last time I checked, glorbs are being sold to heroes by heroes too."

Billiam Milliam was a golden statue. K.O. had his Pow Card and had heard all about him, yet chills came upon the young boy as he looked directly into the uncannily humanlike eyes of the villain.

"Um—"

"It's a story for better ears, Billiam," Venomous spat, clearly uninterested in sharing the details of his heroic yet failure-filled past.

Billiam scoffed. "Fine. Keep your delicious secrets to yourself, you monster."

Facing K.O., "Hmm...because I have respect for this job, I'll try to help you. Although, it is a shame, most especially that I have never heard of this...Shadowy Figure before."

"Maybe you've seen him?" K.O. pleaded. "He's got this hood that covers his face and is like, dressed all black,"

"...doesn't ring a bell, my boy." Billiam turned to Venomous, "Are you here for anything else?"

"The payment from your last shipment,"

"I already had it sent!"

"It's not even actual cash! It's just green paper!" The two approached each other in a heated argument, clearly disagreeing about some shady and illegal deals.

"Does this usually happen when you guys visit?" K.O. asked Fink.

"Not really. Usually Boss and I get to set this stupid thing on fire."

"I see," K.O. nodded away awkwardly.

* * *

They had passed through the Plaza's hidden glorb tree, and Shadowy wasn't yet to be found.

That was weird.

K.O. tried his hardest to make sure neither Fink nor his father would take any glorbs. Fink managed to slip a couple into her pocket without the boy's notice.

As K.O. looked at the tree and all he went through with it, he remembered what Billiam Milliam had said:

_"Last time I checked, glorbs are being sold to heroes by heroes too."_

* * *

"P.O.I.N.T.?!" Venomous exclaimed as he powered on his car.

"Yeah," K.O. tried to remember. "I dunno what caused it, but all I know is that at one time, Foxtail tried to get P.O.I.N.T. to harness the glorb tree under the plaza."

Venomous felt a pang of concern but tried his hardest not to show it. "...was Greyman there with her?"

"No. I met him sometime after the whole Dark Plaza Takeover; he said he quit when he found out was Foxtail was planning on doing."

"Of course he would," He then chuckled to himself. "I suppose big ol' Miss Foxy finally learned to take a page out of my book,"

K.O. wasn't sure what Venomous meant, "...she felt really bad about what she did, saying stuff about wanting heroes to be strong enough or something,"

"That so?" Venomous tried to keep calm.

K.O. nodded.

"Heard it was under new management now,"

"Oh yeah, Elodie runs P.O.I.N.T. now! She's best friends with my best friend Enid!"

"Good to know."

The drive was silent so suddenly, the folks in the car deep in thought.

"Boss?" Fink asked in the back.

"What is it, Fink?"

"I don't think they're gonna let us in,"

"Oh my Cob, Fink's right!" K.O. realized. "Elodie wouldn't let us in just like that!"

Venomous, eyes still on the road and the pointing-hand signs, tapped his fingers against the wheel. "Unless we pretend you managed to defeat us,"

"Huh?" The children questioned.

"It's a small blow to my rep—"

"Not really, Boss,"

"Ah well," He paused. "Okay, it's a really big blow to my rep, but I can certainly recover with ease."

K.O. was scared of the implications.

Nearing the gate of the institution, "K.O., you gotta pretend you've defeated us or something. It should convince the folks there that we won't threaten them."

"That's a not a bad idea," K.O. thought about it. "But how do we look convincing?"

After forcefully taking the boy's increasingly powerful power fists, Professor Venomous and Fink followed behind K.O.

"I guess Elodie got rid of the rest of the Troopers," K.O. remarked.

"Troopers, huh?" Venomous snarked. K.O. didn't respond.

The lobby was empty, and K.O. began to text on his phone.

"Can't we go any faster?!" Fink complained, the three of them just standing in the halls.

"Enid went here for a time, so she should know where Foxtail would usually be," K.O. then received a reply. "Either in the Gym or in a class!"

"I have no intentions of interrupting a hero class while being this tired out," Venomous stated. "Just be quick, alright? You know I have history here."

Suddenly, the sight of a faded orange tail slipped into the Gym, which was nearby. Apparently, K.O.'s sights were impressive.

"There!" He pointed out and dragged the two with him.

Foxtail was rounding out some dodgeballs, perhaps for a game later.

"Hey, Miss Foxtail!"

Almost making a mess of the dodgeballs, "Sugarcube!"

Foxtail let the boy run towards her, and they embraced.

Venomous and Fink stood leaning against the sides of the doorframe.

Venomous couldn't believe how old Foxtail has gotten—she's certainly more burly now than the last time he saw her.

Foxtail caught the villains by the doorframe and was about to remark about them when K.O. interrupted.

"Miss Foxtail, I need to ask you something very important!"

"Go ahead, sugarcube," Her eyes were on the villain, the ambitious Professor Venomous.

K.O., with his strength, tried forcing her attention to him. "Miss Foxtail?"

Now that she saw the villain this close, his uncanny resemblance to one of her most beloved friends became far more uncanny.

"**MISS FOXTAIL**!" She jumped at the boy's sudden rise in volume.

"Please pay attention to me!" He replied annoyed, his rust-colored eyes sparkling with a purple she last remembered seeing in the eyes of his poor, poor father. K.O. must be getting really angry.

"I'm sorry, sugarcube," She knelt down to his level. "Something caught my attention."

"Okay," He calmed. "You remember when you started acting like a misunderstood anti-hero with all the glorbs at the plaza?"

She did not want to remember that but nodded nonetheless.

"Yeah, I was wondering...did you happen to get glorbs too from a Shadowy Figure?"

She gasped dramatically as she stood up in shock.

She tried to look away, obviously blushing. "I don't associate with him anymore, not since after I resigned as leader of P.O.I.N.T."

"Well, do you know where he is?"

She seemed to not answer, fully faced away from him.

"Miss Foxtail?"

"Looks like nothing," Fink remarked. "We should get outta here, boss."

He nodded at her and then the two began to walk out. Venomous clicked his tongue and winked at Foxtail as he left.

"Hey wait," He wanted to be determined but relented. "...I-I'll catch up with you guys!"

Foxtail suddenly put a hand on K.O.'s shoulder, making the boy jump.

"Here," She handed him a small paper. "The coordinates for Shadowy's lair."

"Thanks, Miss Foxtail," K.O. replied gratefully, putting the paper in his bodega vest.

"By the way, could you care to tell me why you brought Professor Venomous and that rat kid with you? I mean, surely you have a reason."

"Oh, that's my evil dad and his henchman," K.O. replied casually.

"I see."

"Alright. Bye, Miss Foxtail!"

"See ya, Sugarcube!"

K.O. then ran out of the gym.

Foxtail then went back to her—

"_**His dad**_?!"

Foxtail paused in frantic energy.

"..._**evil**_?!"

* * *

"Hurry up, Boss's waiting!" Fink called out to K.O. when she caught him in her sights. She was standing by the entrance doors. She exited after she said this.

"Coming!"

K.O. was about to grab the handle when a sudden force pinned him to the doors.

"You're not going to get away from me so easily, you vile vil—" Gasping, "Oh no! I'm so sorry!"

K.O. slid himself out of his vest, and saw it pierced by a pink magical arrow.

"Elodie?!" K.O. turned back to face the Head of P.O.I.N.T Prep.

"I'm so glad I didn't hit you, K.O.," Elodie ran up to him in relief. "I saw some dangerous villains follow up behind you in the cameras, just having exited the Charisma class!"

She began to dote and check on him, "That Venomous or that rat didn't hurt you, did they?"

"They didn't try to hurt me Elodie," K.O. assured her. "I just have something important to do which involves them, and because of that I think I should go—"

"Oh, _please_ talk to me, just for a while!" Elodie stopped him. "I bumped into Foxtail on the way here, and she's been meaning to discuss you with me! Considering you're still here, we should be able to discuss more openly."

"Um,"

"It wouldn't take long!" Elodie sent him a charismatic smile.

"Alright," K.O. relented. He pulled out his phone to text his dad while following behind Elodie.


	2. Mediocrity at POINT

"Silver Spark!" Greyman and Foxtail called out to their teammate in concern, busting into the locker room.

Silver was sitting down on the bench, looking sick. Rippy Roo was in front of her, shaking in shock.

"What's goin' on?" Foxtail asked out loud.

Rippy yelled noises of disgust and quickly hopped out the locker room, probably crying.

"I didn't mean it, Rippy!" Silver called out to her.

"Did something happen, Silver Spark?" Greyman asked the woman, he and Foxtail nearing her.

She put a hand on her stomach, patting around lightly. "I think I'm pregnant,"

Before either of the two could react, Silver began to sob to herself.

"Don't cry now, Silver," Greyman tried to comfort her.

"It's just-" She sniffled, "o-our- my baby! Poor little thing won't even get to see his papa,"

Greyman and Foxtail were saddened. Laserblast meant so much to them.

The three sat there for a while until Silver stopped crying.

"Whatever happened to Rippy Roo?" Greyman asked, breaking the silence.

"I...may have thrown up into her pouch,"

"Silver Spark!" Foxtail was disgusted.

"I-It was just instin—look I couldn't not throw up, alright!" Silver tried to explain herself. "I'll make it up to her, I promise!"

* * *

"Had you told me that before, maybe I wouldn't have so grossly underestimated you," Elodie laughed. "The son of two P.O.I.N.T. members? I didn't even know romance occurred within the group!"

"I'm not really sure, but based on the flashbacks I've been getting, I think all that junk wasn't so smooth." K.O. replied. "Doctor Greyman or Miss Foxtail didn't say anything?"

"Well, secrets are secrets, K.O.," Elodie remarked, opening the door into the faculty room.

The room seemed to be divided into three, each cubicle with its own little aesthetic.

The room had a meeting table in the center. Foxtail was seated at one of the ends, the one facing the door from which K.O. and Elodie had entered.

"Good thing I caught him before he could leave," Elodie greeted jokingly towards Foxtail, letting K.O. sit down.

"...and of Professor Venomous?" Foxtail asked in concern.

"I've got him under control," K.O. piped up immediately.

"I trust ya, Sugarcube," Foxtail then breathed.

Elodie then sat down.

"K.O., what was that about your dad?" Foxtail asked in apprehension. "Is this something your mother knows, or—"

"I told you already," K.O. replied bluntly, albeit uncomfortably. "Professor Venomous is my dad."

Elodie and Foxtail stared at K.O., the leader of P.O.I.N.T. almost doing a double-take.

"But you just told me Laserblast was your father on the way here!" Elodie questioned in surprise.

"H-he's supposed to be g-" Foxtail rambled out audibly but quickly cut herself off. "K.O., I'm sorry, but I just don't understand—"

"I'll explain!" K.O. banged his fists on the table, that spark of purple blasting visibly in his irises.

The boy sighed heavily. "Look, I just wished I didn't have to find out that way, or for things between him and Mommy to go so sour..."

He reclined on his chair, "I don't think Dad liked being a hero...he called it, um, medium? That wasn't the word but basically, it was like he wasn't happy at P.O.I.N.T..."

* * *

"You wouldn't believe the guy I found!" Foxtail was ready to announce to her good friend Laserblast about her new recruit.

The recruitment of extra, junior members was their collective idea (though to be fair, it was a 2 vs 1 thing), and Foxtail couldn't be happier.

Laseeblast turned to face her, polishing his helmet. "Oh?"

"I could see myself in the fella! He was just like me when I was startin' out wrestling," Foxtail leaned across the wall.

"Well, shakier and sweatier though. His name's El-Bow; guy also looks like your type." Foxtail winked at him teasingly.

"Like you'd know anything about my type,"

Smirking, Foxtail elbowed a locker, in it stacks of magazines and posters filled with conventionally attractive supermodels.

They were mostly human, in a balanced mix of male and female, generally ones with that dash of adorable innocence that really got Laserblast going.

"Hey!" His face reddened, running to the locker to grab the magazines and posters.

"How did you-"

Foxtail laughed at him.

"My taste is great, you prick!" He spat back, taking out the magazines and posters and dragging them to his workbench.

"I never said it was terrible!" Foxtail slowly calmed down. "You oughta find a better place to hide them before Silver finds out."

He blew a raspberry. "Foolish Foxy, we share these—well, some of—these magazines."

"Oh yeah?"

"Go ask her when you can,"

Foxtail chuckled and tsked.

"Anyway, where's this El-Bow from?" He then picked up the helmet, looking into the visor's reflection, his dark brown eyes lined with an amaranthine shine.

"Folks say his roots are from some city out of the country—a Monte Macabre,"

"That's pretty far from Neo-Riot City," Laserblast chuckled out, putting on his helmet.

"I know!" Calming down, "What about you, Laser? Found your guy?"

He did not exactly find this guy if anything Laserblast had doubts whether he could find a good recruit for his side of the team.

He remembered though, the relief he had one day when this young hero from Downunderland just immigrated into Neo-Riot City. Everyone started following her around instead of him, and he couldn't be more thankful.

His mouth pressed into an unreadable line as he began to think about that young hero.

"Laser—"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Come on, you know how this went down! 2 against 1, there ain't nothing you can do about it, buddy."

He frowned, his visor emitting a faint glow. "I have way too many suitors, Foxy. I can't even go around without someone fainting at my feet—you and Greyman know that!"

"And we're confident that you can handle them," Foxtail tried to reassure him, worried about whatever it is he was worried about, "unless of course, you want our hel—"

"That's fine, Foxtail," Laserblast cut her off. "I already have someone in mind; I'm just not sure if I have any other reasons to get her on the team,"

"Oh? Who is this heroine?"

* * *

"Rippy Roo," Venomous reminisced to Fink, driving according to the coordinates K.O. had texted him.

"What kind of name is that?" Fink commented. "You brought her into that dumb hero team for what reason?"

"Well, she was green, and green is one of my favorite colors," A left turn.

"You're kidding?"

"Look, she's a Downunderlandian kangaroo—those guys are adorable!"

Before Fink could comment some more, Venomous handed her a Pow Card.

It had the shine of vintage cards.

"Huh," Fink understood immediately, looking at the card.

The vehicle suddenly halted, and Fink almost dropped the card.

As she got out, she immediately recognized the location.

Venomous then opened off the lid of a manhole.

"Boss, I thought we were gonna wait for K.O.?"

He stopped in his motions and faced her with a solemn expression.

He pulled out his phone and looked for the coordinates again, "I have to do this for K.O.,"

"Boss," Fink's voice was lined with worry, "that's K.O.'s thing! H-he should be the one to go up against Shadowy, n-not you—"

"Why not?!" He hissed at her with aggression, his suddenly sparkling indigo eyes lining with shadow. "I can take on Shadowy Figure!"

Fink gulped.

"And K.O. will see!" He cackled, "watch!"

"Boss!" Fink exclaimed as she watched him jump down into the manhole.

"To feel more powerful, he would secretly experiment on glorbs," K.O. narrated.

"Glorbs?" Elodie reacted.

Foxtail muttered to herself quietly, suddenly exclaiming, "No, it can't be!"

K.O. looked at Foxtail. "Can't be what?"

"Doctor Greyman found these experiments from an unknown villain—one for black holes, one for molecular shrinking—"

"And one that removes your powers?"

Foxtail stopped with her breath in her throat.

"...is that what happened to Doctor Greyman?" Elodie asked quietly.

Foxtail nodded.

"The day Greyman lost his powers was the same day Laserblast disappeared," Foxtail replied.

The three didn't know where to go on from there. After 3 long minutes of silence, K.O. continued.

"It's not like I knew what happened there at the donut shop, or what Mommy and Mr. Gar refer to as 'the sandwich incident', but," K.O. broke the silence, "That was when everything fell apart. Those were Dad's experiments—Doctor Greyman found them and he didn't wanna get found out. I guess some accidental explosion happened, I think. Dad lost his powers too, just like Doctor Greyman. I can't imagine what that must feel!"

K.O. gripped the arms of his chair tightly, "Mommy always tried to reassure him that everything was okay, that he had nothing to feel weak about. Mommy loved him very much...she was so heartbroken when the explosion happened—s-she though dad was gone."

"We all thought so too," Foxtail added weakly.

The boy glared at her unnoticeably, slightly annoyed by her interruption. "Dad had the choice to walk out, but he heard Mommy say something that hurt his feelings really really bad...he just refused to. H-he could've walked out and-a-and,"

K.O. paused, rubbing the tears that had formed when he was speaking.

"It's alright, sugarcube," Foxtail tried to comfort him, weakly.

"M-Miss Foxtail?"

"Yeah, K.O.?"

"I hope you're not angry at Mr. Gar anymore."

"Oh, Sugarcube," Foxtail sighed out.

"He told me you kicked him out the day after," The boy stiffened. "And he was really sad until he was found by the President of the Universe and got tasked to protect all the glorb hotspots in the world—"

"Gar was what?!" Foxtail suddenly felt guilty. "He and the President of the Universe?"

" **_You bet!_**" echoed the sky.

The three were shaken by the response of the heavens.

"That's why Mr. Gar built the plaza," K.O. continued, his tone slowly growing in aggression, "To protect one of the world's biggest ones,"

"In Lakewood," Foxtail noted.

"H-He," K.O.'s eyes suddenly dulled into static, his fists banging against the table with a shock of purple.

Elodie was pushed back literally at this energy, but Foxtail held on.

K.O. rose as his voice suddenly did, his hair slowly getting too disheveled for his headband to hold.

"Sugarcube!" Foxtail tried to calm him down again but was overtaken by the boy's yell of anger.

The boy growled to himself as he curled into his seat. He cried as he pulled on his headband.

Elodie immediately got up and went to K.O., facing his chair away from the table.

"K.O.," She reached out to him, "it's alright—"

Suddenly, he smacked Elodie's hand and did so with a force so great that she had been slammed against the wall. Hard.

"K.O.!" The smack, snap, and pained yelp forced Foxtail to stand.

The boy ripped off his headband.

"What is the meanin' of—" Foxtail stepped back when she looked at the young boy, irises sparking a familiar shade of purple.

"K.O., what has gotten into you?!" Foxtail was then met with a flash and the boy pulling at the collar of her costume.

"The name's T.K.O., Big ol' Miss Foxy," he spat angrily yet somehow playfully, managing the strength to slam Foxtail onto the meeting table with a loud crash.

Foxtail grunted from the impact, trying to raise herself a bit until T.K.O. walked on top of her.

"Can you believe that my dad had to resort into becoming a supervillain?!" A punch.

Foxtail was surprised at the boy's strength as he hit her, the magnitude of which she couldn't trace to either of his parents.

"Can you believe that he was willing to leave Mommy _just_ because he felt weak when he was always with her?!" Another punch.

Foxtail couldn't bring to defend herself, afraid to hurt the boy who was throwing down such a destructive tantrum.

"Can you believe that I would mean s-so little...t-to," T.K.O. cried, his fists engulfing in a violet fire.

"Can you believe how much pain he brought to **_all_** of us?!" T.K.O. drew his fists.

The sudden, loud prick on his back stopped him.

The air of the room was tense.

Elodie lowered her weapon, the bow emitting pink sparkles.

"Stop," She spoke with the cadence of one in authority.

"Why not?" T.K.O. turned to face her with an angry grimace, the fire of his fists rising to his biceps.

"I can tell that you're mad, erm, T.K.O., but that is no way to express your anger!" Elodie stood in her stance, her bruises sparkling like glitter rather than bleeding like a normal hero. "We all are hurt by what that Venomous fellow has done. It is not right to commit and justify wrong actions because something terrible has happened and it affects you."

Foxtail felt that.

"Oh, I know," T.K.O. snarked back disrespectfully, floating towards Elodie. "But the thing is, I don't really care, princess!"

He fired a fist immediately but Elodie dodged at the same speed. She summoned her bow again and attempted to hit him with it, but T.K.O. dodged every hit as well. His dodges were slithery and smooth, like a foreign sense of focus was driven into him.

Elodie made a sudden and showy twirl and proceeded to give her all by throwing a strong hit with her bow towards T.K.O.

No noise, no impact—T.K.O. stopped the swing with one hand, clenching the weapon into disintegration. Sparkles, glitter, and shards flew everywhere, causing Elodie to gasp and back away in pure shock of T.K.O.'s power.

He acted as if he exerted no effort, no sweat broke, the smirk on this tainted child's face the icing to this revenge served cold.

Elodie kept her distance but stood her ground.

Taking a good look at the mess he made, as well as the women he had hurt, T.K.O. floated back down to the ground.

"I had some hope, y' know," he spoke, "that maybe my dad would be the great hero Mommy always said he was...but he wasn't. It kinda made sense though, for him to turn villain, to find more power, to ease that pain inside of him."

The boy then sniffled, tears beginning to form. "But that's the scary thing. I know that pain all too well, and it hurts so so...so darn bad! I wish I could stop feeling powerless! I wish people could understand me! And yet, the one person who does is the father that wasn't there for me, who felt too powerless to even face me and my Mommy, who just...h-hurt people, hurt me...t-to ease the pain inside him."

He cried a bit and wiped his tears. "I don't wanna end up like dad, like somebody who feels empty all their life, who feels powerless forever. Honestly, I don't even mind having an evil, supervillain dad! All I want is for him to be there for me and to recognize me."

T.K.O. sat down and began to sulk, suddenly unmoving.

When it seemed that the boy wouldn't act violently anymore, Foxtail and Elodie saw to it to comfort him, to calm him down again.

* * *

"Boss?" Fink wondered as she followed the glowing streaks of purple down in the sewer.

The crack of a metal door opening sped her up. She found it at the end of a sewer and went inside.

Venomous was exhibiting shadowy energy—he didn't seem to notice it, the man looking around the lair.

"Look at this, Fink," Venomous said to her when he noticed her presence in the room. "Shadowy's secret lair."

"But he i-isn't here, boss," Fink argued.

"Unless he's hiding," Venomous began to rummage around and investigate.

Fink watched her Boss in worry, that shadowy vibe sparkling purple. Venomous seemed to get angrier and angrier the more he moved.

She stared at the vault in the ceiling, shaking at the thought of telling her Boss what was really up.

"What are you doing just standing there, Fink?!" Venomous asked, his voice distorting when he raised his tone.

His frantic stance tried to calm, going down on one knee to better communicate with his beloved minion.

"I understand if you don't like K.O. so much, but please," He gripped her shoulders, "this is for me...I can't help myself with this one."

Fink sighed. "I..."

"What is it?"

"It's," The rat hesitated. "Th-there's a way out, o-on the ceiling,"

Venomous looked and gasped. Looking back at her, "Thank you, Fink."


	3. That's No Way to Live

"Wait a minute," Venomous said to himself, crawling out from the vault. When Fink tried to do the same, he helped her out.

"I know this place," He muttered, looking at the familiar rummage he was surrounded with.

"My mutant bonsai-" He pointed out, remembering how Boxman had ruined one of his more special projects.

"Fink, how did this Shadowy Figure hide his laboratory under my house?! Without my notice?" Venomous asked, almost rhetorically.

Fink hesitated to answer, unmoving.

"Fink," He stressed his tone, "this is serious! He's made an enemy of K.O. and now an enemy of me."

"Boss-"

"If that Shadowy Figure's gonna ruin me even more," His voice began to distort as he began to pace in circles, "ruin my damn chances t-to—"

Fink blurted out in worry, "Boss!"

"**What?!**" Venomous responded angrily, irises glowing in the shadow of his eyes, hair disheveled and lab coat losing its mint-tinted white for a more shadowy grey.

Fink could've cried, but she took a breath.

"Boss," She shifted her tone to a more somber one, "take a look at yourself."

"Look at my-" He did, and he saw the purple of skin dim before him, the sudden feeling of darkness covering his being.

"No," He cried out softly, recognizing that feeling of powerless helplessness—a feeling that hadn't intensified this much since, "since that...it worked, or was it when K.O.—"

"That's been happening a lot, Boss," Fink said, looking at him in sadness.

"What's been happening a lot, Fink?!" Venomous panicked out.

"That," Fink limply gestured to him, "Why else do you get so tired, Boss?"

"Wh-" He curled his fists, "Why didn't you tell me anything about this?!"

He raised his voice as it distorted further, "I-I took you in so we could keep an eye on **each other**! You're my **minion!** **How could you-**"

His raving stopped when he heard the girl sniffling.

His form still grew shadowy, but he calmed down to approach her.

He crouched to her level. She flinched away roughly when he tried to hold her shoulder.

"Don't touch me," She spat with venom, trying to hide her tears.

"Fink, I'm-"

"Boss, j-just," She faced him with teary eyes as she stepped back some more. "Please don't go..."

"Go? Why would I go?"

"If I tell you," She sobbed a little, "he's gonna take you away."

"He? Fink, I-I don't understand."

"Shadowy. He's gonna take you away," Fink was about a few feet away from him, ready to reach out for that glorb she had stolen earlier.

By this time, the man in front of her looked exactly like that Shadowy Figure.

"Fink," He tried to reach out her, "I won't let hi—"

He collapsed at the girl's feet. Fink didn't flinch, but she immediately began to load the glorb into her collar.

He gasped for air, his static eyes glitching into black, empty ones.

Fink felt the turbonic energy, not just from the glorb but from the man in front of her.

The snap and crack of tired bones, the buzz of something radioactive—all this rang as the shadowy figure floated into the air and landed down with full consciousness.

Under the hood was a piercing gaze towards the girl, "How dare you,"

Fink only got angrier.

"We made a deal Fink," Shadowy said with a wave of calm anger, the distortion now consistent. **"and I said no take backs!"**

Fink immediately dodged this attack, floating into the air. Shadowy was slithery and swiftly curled into her direction to attack her again.

A hit and dodge.

Hit. Dodge.

A grab, slam, and choke.

"This wasn't the intended use of my gifts, Fink," Shadowy said playfully, clenching at the girl's collar. Her sharpened claws were nothing to his iron grip, trying to pry him off herself for air.

"Ack," Fink tried to talk back to him, "K.O. w-wouldn't want this—"

He clenched her neck harder, "like you know anything about him! **I DO!**"

" **I know my son, and ** **I'm **the only one ** powerful enough to help him! Heck, ** raise him like **I deserve to! **"

Fink began to tear up from the tightness of the choking.

"The last thing I need is you ruining my plans for K.O., you damn rat!"

She wanted him to stop, begging with her eyes, trying to muster the strength to look cute enough that he'd do her bidding.

But this was Shadowy Figure, the manifestation of Venomous's dissatisfaction, inadequacy, helplessness.

Such a man was desperate, unyielding until his thirst was quenched.

And Fink hated it. She hated how the most dangerous thing she had ever faced had to rest within the depths of her most beloved Boss.

"I..." Fink tried to make out the most of what she wanted to say, feeling too lightheaded.

"Go ahead and spit it out!" Voice gravelly, "**You will not stop me**."

"...l-l-love you, b-b-b..." The girl then lost consciousness. Shadowy immediately let her go after she had said this.

Dusting his aching, shaky hands, "If you really loved me, Fink...you'd understand."

A sudden swing of air broke his train of thought, immediately catching the sight of the magical arrow that damaged his scarf, sticking out of the ground next to him.

"Don't you take another step, vile villain!"

Shadowy growled angrily, immediately eyeing the source of the enemy.

Gracefully falling in style was a teenager, holding a brand new bow in the air and adorning the militant costume of the Leader of P.O.I.N.T., piercing the clouds with sparkles and glamour.

"It is I, Elodie, the pride and face of P.O.I.N.T.!" She announced as she landed, "And I have arrived to aid a fellow hero!"

Just as she finished, Shadowy immediately caught the flaming fist that was directed towards him from behind with one hand, surprising his attacker.

This surprised Elodie too, which prompted her to ready her bow to fire.

"Tsk tsk tsk, oh! How am I glad to see you again,** T.K.O.,**" Shadowy swung T.K.O. away from him, but the boy retained his stance as he floated into a more comfortable position.

"What did you do to my dad, you dumbbutt!"

Shadowy laughed. "Like he'd want anything to do with you!"

"Shut up!" T.K.O. retorted back.

"T.K.O., don't listen to him!" Elodie called from afar, firing an arrow.

Shadowy dodged the projectile and continued to laugh to spite the child.

"If he wanted nothing to do with me, he wouldn't have gone through the effort to help me stop you!" T.K.O. argued, flying towards Shadowy in an attack.

Shadowy dodged every attack with calm ease, slithery as a black mamba, fluidly and flawlessly moving until the weight of a bow hit him in the back.

"I don't think so, Shadowy," Elodie remarked, as she readied to attack him again.

Shadowy, angry, kicked T.K.O. away to focus his attention on Elodie, an agile woman with a height significantly different to the height of his previous opponent.

Kick, dodge, swing, slither—T.K.O. began to summon more natural energy to himself, the draining electricity coursing through his fingers. He landed on the ground, ready to strike Shadowy from behind, but the villain was speedy, managing to grab Elodie and swap places with her.

T.K.O. retracted his hands right away just as he heard the wrong voice cry in pain.

Shadowy laughed at this display.

Elodie, despite being incredibly too drained to fight, tried to get up. Shadowy kicked her, a small shock from the heel of his boot, and he laughed more boisterously.

Flat out pissed off, T.K.O. sent a swift power fist towards Shadowy's face. It cut the man's cruel laughter as well as knocked him to the ground.

T.K.O.'s eyes widened when Shadowy's hood fell, a nightmare come to life.

He couldn't move, stuck in the air while processing whether what he was looking at was real or some influence of the subconscious.

If anything, he wasn't sure if he can keep control after this.

Clearly recovered from the fight, Shadowy slowly rose, feeling a bruise on his left cheek. He felt the hood was off as well as the lack of attacking from the boy.

That face was unmistakenly familiar, the sight of it causing T.K.O.'s vision to distort.

"No," His spikes began to crack, "N-No!" The boy clutched the sides of his head, pulling his hair, tears falling from his slowly-turning-into-static eyes.

Shadowy stood up fully and stared at the boy. He said to himself, "Ah well, this could've gone better."

The boy flopped towards the ground, curling into himself as he screamed. Shadowy walked up to him, looking at his son with emotion so vague even I couldn't properly narrate it.

"Little, little, T.K.O..." He mused in a sing-song manner, watching the scene at his feet.

**"What must I do to have you?"**

At that, the boy stopped his manic screaming, pausing from his panicked motions, slowly lowering his arms.

Shadowy raised a brow at the lack of a response.

A sniffle. The boy was still crying.

"How long have you known?"

Shadowy could not trace which ego was speaking.

The man paused and thought about answering or not.

"Why should that matter?"

**"Why do I matter to you?"**

Shadowy held his breath.

The boy slowly raised himself up, no longer obscuring from Shadowy's sight his puddle of tears. "You left without any chance of ever knowing I existed."

Shadowy pursed his lips. Breathing, "the night at Boxmore,"

"When Boxman double-booked?"

"Yep."

"...it was that recently?"

"You reminded me of a special somebody, and to some degree, my less-than-confident self."

"Really?"

"I mean, we're not so different, you and I."

The boy chuckled at the statement.

"Aw, what's so funny?"

The boy immediately faced Shadowy, revealing teary eyes of golden yellow and ultraviolet, "that you think I'll end up like you!"

**"What?!"**

Before Shadowy could attack, a painful scratch dug onto his back, making him cry out in pain. This knocked him down briefly.

"Fink!" The boy exclaimed.

"Where in Cob's name have you been?!" She yelled.

"You do not wanna know,"

"Whatever, let's just finish this," Fink raised her fist in the air, enveloped in a turbonic glow.

"Right!"

The two children began to float in the air, both ready to do a combined attack. They both fired their fists, but their attack somehow missed with their unmoving target suddenly disappearing in a mist of shadows.

"What the-?!" The boy wondered out loud.

"Ugh, I hate it when he does that!"

"You mean he can teleport-"

A sudden zoom cut the boy off, and Fink watched Shadowy tackle him. The man was fast, and she knew her collar was running out of juice.

Then it suddenly did.

"Gotcha!" Said a strong, elderly voice, of which caught Fink before she could hit the ground.

It was Foxtail, that hero lady who helped her recover from Shadowy's assault.

"Sorry I couldn't come back to ya sooner. Had to help my girl Elodie,"

Fink groaned weakly, "K.O.'s fighting Shadowy."

"Then we oughta help them!" Foxtail, with Fink sitting on her shoulder, flew up and caught Shadowy and the boy from far away.

"I'm gonna throw you to throw Shadowy off, alright?"

"Like I can lay a scratch on him! I'm outta," Suddenly handed a glorb, "juice?"

"This was where I'd buy my glorbs," Foxtail remarked, loading the glorb into the collar for Fink.

"You heroes use those too?"

"...unfortunately," Once the glorb activated, Fink radiated turbonic energy. "Better now?"

"What d'ya think?" The girl smirked.

Foxtail chuckled, then readied her arm to chuck Fink, "I'mma throw you in 3, 2, 1!"

The buzz of energy decrescendoed away as the rat was launched.

The girl readied her electrified claws, knowing she was gonna directly hit Shadowy.

He and the boy were throwing and dodging punches at each other.

From a reasonable distance, the girl yelled, "NOW!"

The boy immediately got the hint and gave Shadowy, stuck in confusion, a swift kick in the ribs. He collided with the rat's attack, bouncing back towards the boy, who channeled that same energy and dug it in into him.

Once the boy let go, the man fell towards the ground, shadows slowly dissipating.

Down on the surface was Professor Venomous, of which the boy and the rat floated towards.

He squirmed on the ground, touching around the scratches on his back.

Groaning in intense pain, "w-what happened?"

Fink embraced her Boss immediately, trying not to look like a crybaby in front of the boy.

"Fink!" He then rose up a bit, coddling Fink's embrace. "...K.O.?"

The boy blew a sigh and slick back his disheveled hair. "T.K.O."

"Huh," Venomous paused. "Well, I am pleased to see you."

T.K.O. was suddenly taken aback when Venomous held out his hand.

The boy hesitated but then shook on it.

Venomous chuckled as he helped himself up shakily, Fink on his shoulder.

"Are you feeling okay, Boss?" Fink asked him in concern.

"Well, I certainly have another migraine. C'mon, let's get back home."

Looking at T.K.O., who still did not let go of his hand, "You too, kiddo."

* * *

Boxman was surprisingly hospitable, despite being fully aware of K.O.'s history with him, heck, his history with Boxman.

It was pasta night, and this was where the boy learned that Boxman did all of the cooking.

The robots were each served bowls filled with nuts, bendy screws and that glow-in-the-dark variation of motor oil. The arrangement of the mixture per bowl was different, probably to suit each robot's tastes.

Fink was given a bowl of swirly whirly pasta covered in bechamel and what looks to be bits of pig-goat bacon. She was digging in as if this was the first time she had fresh food.

Maybe it's a rat thing.

With caution, Boxman gently placed a plate of carbonara right in front of him. It smelled really good, clearly seasoned with boom peppers and, "Is that galaxy truffle? Aren't they like, rare or something?"

"Oh, are they now?"

"I think I'm sure, at least I remember somehow they are."

"Rare?" Boxman thought out loud, "well, galaxy truffles are quite a staple in the most villainous dishes. Y'know, they're usually mixed in meals for poisoning enemies. Folks say the flavor is strong enough for even the most thorough of tongues!"

T.K.O. listened.

"Well, perhaps those critters are being hunted down to extinction," Boxman mused. He then cleared his throat.

"I wasn't sure what kind of spaghetti you liked, so I whipped up my specialty!" Boxman chuckled out awkwardly.

"This isn't poisoned right?"

"Nonsense!" Boxman sounded offended. "I'm not a monster, erm, T.K.O.! Dig in, you'll love it. Your father and I are having it too, anyway."

Boxman then gave the boy a fork and filled his glass with pomelo juice from the pitcher on the table. After all these nice gestures, Boxman left the dining area.

When it was just him, Fink, and the robots, T.K.O. could immediately tell the robots were afraid of him. Of course, they are.

He could snap right there, but the carbonara was just too dang good. He almost said it was better than Mom's cooking, but he then realized he never actually tried her cooking before.

* * *

"P.V.?" Boxman slowly opened the door, holding a large plate of his galaxy truffle carbonara with two forks sticking out of it.

"Oh, Boxman-"

Boxman then backed out and quickly shut the door, flustered at the sight he just witnessed.

"I don't mind, Boxy! You're free to come in."

"You sure?"

"We're dating, it's fine."

Boxman then pushed the door open, entered and shut it close.

Venomous was putting on a new pair of pants over his boxer shorts.

"I can tell you're tired, P.V.," Boxman said, placing the pasta by the bedside. "Was he hard on you?"

Venomous didn't answer, putting on another purple sweater.

"Did something happen?"

Venomous then flopped back on the bed, facing Boxman still standing right in front of him.

"I believe I have achieved a self-discovery,"

"Oh, from that father-son bonding? I remember having that too when I came back here-"

"No, it's not like that," Venomous replied with stress. "It's something...I really want to be figured out."

"...is it about us?"

"No no no!" He tried to reassure Boxman. "It's all me, really!"

"Oh?" Boxman then took the plate and sat next to his boyfriend.

"Yeah." Venomous clasped his hands, still laying on the bed, feeling aroused at not just the situation that happened just then, but also the smell of the food egging on his hunger.

Boxman began to mix the noodles so it won't curdle up.

"I think I know what the source of my migraines is, Boxman."

"That's great!" He then forked some noodles and ate.

**"Well, whatever's causing it is not so great."**

This set Boxman into worry. He tsked. "Get up and join me before I eat all this. It's got galaxy truffle!"

He perked up at "galaxy truffle".

"What's the occasion?"

Boxman stuffed Venomous's mouth with pasta using the other fork. "Your son is joining the household, P.V.! I may not like him, but it's still a cause for celebration."

Venomous removed the fork and held it, eating the noodles. He nodded in understanding of Boxman's statement.

"This is really good,"

"And one day I'm passing this specialty to you!"


End file.
